The present invention generally relates to drive-up retail facilities for vending and/or distributing a multitude of consumer products, and more specifically, to a drive-up retail facility having improved automation capabilities.
Generally speaking, presently known vending/distribution facilities fundamentally operate on human interaction. Such vending distribution facilities suffer the drawback that the need for human interaction creates a significant inconvenience for potential customers. More specifically, potential customers/vendees must physically browse through a particular retail facility where goods may then be purchased from an attendant/cashier. Thus, customers are burdened by the amount of time and expense involved in shopping in the retail facility and waiting for service.
Several attempts have been made to overcome these drawbacks. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,158,155 to Domain et al discloses a vendors' complex formed from a central warehouse facility, several customer order stations interconnected with the warehouse facility, several customer pick-up stations interconnected with the warehouse facility, and a network of vehicle routing lanes extending through the warehouse facility and passing by the customer order stations and pick-up stations. Customers using the Complex are directed along the routing lanes to an order station where they place orders for goods and/or services provided by the vendors housed in the Vendors' Complex. The customers are then directed to drive to a particular pick-up station where they receive their ordered goods. The central warehouse facility provides a means of storing consumer goods, preparing goods, and performing services for customers of the Vendors' Complex.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,738 to Vayda, discloses a single stop shopping facility formed from a plurality of customer stations, each including a vehicle parking space, which are arranged around the exterior of a circular building containing goods for sale, The customer stations and building rotate relative to one another. The building includes a loading station for delivering selected goods ordered at the customer stations. The walls of the building support merchandise display sections which are viewable by persons located at the customer stations, the displays being cyclically exposed to the parked vehicles as a result of the relative rotation, permitting the selection and payment for merchandise as the relative rotation continues. After a lapse of a predetermined time interval, the rotation of the customer station positions the loading station adjacent to the vehicle from which merchandise was ordered.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,368 to Mustapick discloses an automated merchandising system where customers may drive their automobiles into a parking area and order desired goods, pay for and receive the goods while remaining in their automobiles. A goods storage building is located remotely from and electronically interconnected with the parking area. At the parking area a plurality of automobile receiving locations are provided each with a communicator equipped with video means for viewing goods available at the remote building and with keyboard and voice means for transmitting to said remote building a goods order. Goods so ordered are assembled, tabulated and delivered by order clerks or automated picking equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,647,026 to Alexander et al discloses an automatic drive-in store structure having in its upper portion a warehouse for storing a multiplicity of diverse retail items within individual dispenser units, and in its lower portion a plurality of parking stalls for vehicles, each stall being provided with a console control apparatus which is equipped with a plurality of item selector panels for use by a motorist. Retail items may be ordered and then dispensed from the respective dispenser unit responsive to an electronic control means and delivered through a system of conveyors to the automobile. The console control apparatus is provided with a closed circuit television which is in circuit with a video camera for transmitting a picture of a selected item onto a television screen, and a moneychanger unit which returns the correct change after registering the amount submitted and subtracting the total price of the items selected.
While each of the above-noted patents describe vending facilities which provide a certain degree of automated shopping for a customer, a need still exists for a vending facility which provides a more efficient and automated system, while easily integrating and accommodating additional customer services, such as disseminating prepurchase product and/or sales information.